Club History

The Old Conna Estate enjoys some of the most beautiful scenery in Ireland and thanks to our predecessors foresight possesses a most wonderful variety of trees and shrubs imported from around the world. We have no knowledge where the "Old’ comes from but the word "Conna" is from the Old Irish, meaning a place to gather firewood - brushwood.

The story of how Old Conna Golf Club came to acquire this lovely place began in 1977 with a small group of people playing golf on the lands ‘surrounding a Hotel in Kilternan, then known as "The Dublin Sport Hotel".

The Hotel was originally the "Opperman Golf and Country Club" and later "The Pat Quinn Club" both of which failed financially.

In 1976 Mr. Paddy Cosgrave acquired the property and opened the "Dublin Sport Hotel" and nine holes of the badly overgrown and neglected golf course. Golf was played on a casual green fee basis or an annual fee of £25. As the interest in golf grew players became aware of the need to form a Club and the Hotel Management were requested to arrange a full meeting of players with this in view. This meeting was held and a panel consisting of Reg Keating, John L. Byrne, Bob Pelissier and Lorna Browne were requested to investigate and report back on all aspects of G.U.I. affiliation and Constitutional requirements.
The first Annual General Meeting of the Dublin Sport Golf Club was held on 26 July 1977 and acting on the advice of the original working party the first Captain, Club Council and Officers were elected as follows:
Captain; Reg Keating; Vice Captain; John L. Byrne; Hon. Secretary; Bob Pelissier, Council Members; Jim Meaney, Jim Cluskey. John Mooney, Ken Gleeson, Dermot Hitchcock, Dermot Whelan. Dr Lorna Browne was elected the first Lady Captain and Mr. Paddy Cosgrave was elected the first Club President. Club Membership at this time consisted of 96 male and 5 female members.

Once established the Captain and the Committee worked tirelessly to form sub-committees for course improvements, competitions, social events, golf etiquette etc. and prepare for the official opening on Wednesday 21 September 1977, This was a major success with Bernie Scannell of the G.U.I. cutting the tape to open the course, Christy O’Connor, Snr. driving off to the applause of the crowd. Rev. Fr. Breen of Kilternan and Canon Stokes of Enniskerry performed an ecumenical service and blessing of the Locker Rooms. Also in attendance were Niall Andrews T.D., Fergus O’Brien T.D. Ciaran Murphy T.D., Director General Joe Malone Bard Failte, P.V. Doyle, Hotelier, Councillor Sean Barrett and Ivan Dickson of the Golfing Union of Ireland.

After this there was no stopping the wonderful enthusiasm of the membership of this young Club as they attacked the gorse and scrub and with pick and spade and very little mechanical assistance extended the course to 18 holes. A thriving social scene began which would later be tapped to provide very lucrative fund raising functions for the Club. Excellent relations were developed over the years with the Hotel Owner Paddy Cosgrave, and it is to his credit that although he looked after his business interests, he always assisted the Golf Club in every possible way.

At this time the Club paid an annual per capita fee for the use of the Course, with the Hotel being responsible for course maintenance. It soon became apparent that this system was not in the best interest of the Club and an agreement was reached where the Club for an agreed Annual Fee became responsible for the entire management of the course and locker rooms. The Club hired their own staff and supplied all machinery and material for these works. A full watering system was installed to all greens and the quality and condition of the course improved dramatically.

This, together with the tremendous support of the social scene by the members led to a three fold increase in membership over a few years security of tenure on behalf of the members next became a priority and many meetings in this regard with the Hotel, both in terms of a long term lease or purchase failed. The best deal which could be achieved was an 11 month agreement between the parties. This was an unsatisfactory arrangement and in 1980 the Club began to look seriously at other lands which might be available in order to build a new course of our own. Sponsored events and fundraising became a very important item in our Annual Calendar, the first of which was a very successful "Race Night" in November 1980 and was the forerunner of many more very successful promotions in the following years. A special word must be said of the work of Michael Cluskey who as M.C. for most of these events was a Class Act.

A future Development Committee was formed consisting of Past Captains of the Club under the Chairmanship of John L. Byrne and included at the time John Mooney, Dermot Hitchcock, Brian O’Kelly and Ewan Byrne. Many estates and parcels of land were walked and bargained for over the years between 1980 and 1985 and for one reason or another ended in disappointment. In 1982 The Old Conna Estate was put on the market and a, great effort was made to purchase the surrounding lands. Unfortunately our best offer of £300,000 was not acceptable and having to leave the marketplace for such a wonderful property was another deep disappointment.

The Dublin Sport Golf Club continued to grow and in this period became an established part of the golfing scene in North Wicklow and South Dublin. Social functions were hugely successful and consequently our fund raising efforts proved equally successful and our bank balance continued to grow giving further impetus to the search for land and in late 1985 the Club were about to agree the purchase of land at The Golden Ball, Kilternan when Old Conna again came on the market. With £125,000 in the bank, negotiations began at a more realistic level and finished with an agreement subject to members approval, to purchase the lands plus five of nine house sites for the figure of £500,000, the initial contact to purchase being signed by the trustees John L. Byrne, Dermot Hitchcock and John Mooney on 25 March 1996.

The trustees and the Development Committee were aware of the huge financial implications of the project and the necessity to market it successfully both to our members and future members. To this end it was decided not to move to our new home until both the Golf Course and Clubhouse were ready for use. A full financial and marketing strategy was put in place under the guidance of John L. Byrne and Ewan Byrne. A course layout designed by Eddie Hackett was agreed and put in the hands of Captain Tony Sheehan and Brian O’KelIy for implementation. Clubhouse Architects were appointed and other plans agreed, this project to be co-ordinated by John Mooney.

After several information meetings the entire project was approved by the members at a Special General Meeting on Wed. 30 April 1986 at the Victor Hotel, Dun Laoghaire at which meeting also the name of the Club was officially changed to Old Conna Golf Club.

The sale of the lands were finally concluded on Thursday 3 July 1986 and work on the course actually commenced on 2 July 1986. During the months of May and June after a very slow start, the inflow of funds in the form of entry fees from new and existing members were so encouraging that an immediate offer was made to purchase the remaining four sites on the land for the sum of £100,000. This purchase was agreed although it did oblige the Club to drill several wells about the property in order to circumvent another very expensive Local Authority water supply scheme.

Work on the Course progressed very well and by mid August several greens had been laid. Unfortunately work suffered a severe set back by the arrival of "Hurricane Charlie". Many dormant and bidden underground drains erupted and swept away the freshly turned earth. Recovery was swift however and most greens were seeded in October/November and had a covering of grass in December. The total cost of development was £200,000.

Work on the Clubhouse commenced on Mon 2 March and was competed on schedule on 9 July 1987 at a total cost including Architects fees and furnishings of approx. £315,000.

The Course was officially opened on Friday 10 July 1987 by John L. Byrne, President Old Conna Golf Club. An Ecumenical Service was held with representatives of the three main Churches. The Captain, Jack Tiernan, the Officers of the Club and all visiting dignitaries joined in celebration of a wonderful achievement in finally securing a home of our own and a solid platform for further achievements.

The total cost of the development including the Golf Course, automatic watering system, machinery and maintenance sheds, Clubhouse and ancillary works came to approx. £1,200,000 which was made up of entry fees, bank savings and borrowings of £300,000.

Full membership of 550 male and 200 female was achieved in year one and a concentrated effort was made to improve our course by a sponsored tree planting programme which saw many hundreds of trees planted over the next several years. In 1990 as the course was improving, unfortunately it was noted that a severe ‘compaction problem was evident on the greens. Expert advice was sought and the Club was advised that the only remedial action possible was the total lifting and relaying of the greens. Having no alternative this work was put in hand immediately under the supervision of Mr. E. Connaughton, an expert Golf Course Agronomist. An estimate of the cost of the works totaled £250,000 and in order to finance this it was decided at E.G.M. that 25 Life Memberships be created at £5700 each and also provide 50 new day members, together with an overall levy of £150 per member.